Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 6 f Thursday, January 9, 1992 / Notices 903

[Case No. F-034I

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the

Furnace Test Procedures to Thermo

Products, Inc.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION: Decision and Order.

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-034)

granting a Waiver to Thermo Products,

Inc. (Thermo) from the existing

Department of Energy (DOE) test

procedures for furnaces. The

Department is granting Thermo its

Petition for Waiver regarding blower

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its GLC

and GHC condensing gas furnaces.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Mail Station CE43, Forrestal Building, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9127.

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

Mail Station GC-41, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202)

586-9507.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(g), notice

is hereby given of the issuance of the

Decision and Order as set out below. In

the Decision and Order, Thermo has

been granted a Waiver for its GLC and

GHC condensing gas furnaces,

permitting the company to use an

alternate test method in determining

AFUE.

Issued in Washington, DC, December 30,

1991.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) established pursuant to the

Energy Policy and Conservation Act

(EPCA), Public Law 94-163, 89 Stat. 917,

as amended by the National Energy

Conservation Policy Act (NECPA),

Public Law 95-619,92 Stat. 3266, the

National Appliance Energy

Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA),

Public Law 100-12, and the National

Appliance Energy Conservation

Amendments of 1988 (NAECA 1988),

Public Law 100-357, requires DOE to

prescribe standardized test procedures

to measure the energy consumption of

certain consumer products, including

furnaces. The intent of the test

procedures is to provide a comparable

measure of energy consumption that will

assist consumers in making purchasing

decisions. These test procedures appear

at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B.

DOE amended the prescribed test

procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27 to

create a waiver process. 45 FR 64108,

September 26,1980. Thereafter, DOE

further amended its appliance test

procedure waiver process to allow the

Assistant Secretary for Conservation

and Renewable Energy (Assistant

Secretary) to grant an Interim Waiver

from test procedure requirements to

manufacturers that have petitioned DOE

for a waiver of such prescribed test

procedures. 51 FR 42823, November 26,

1986.

The waiver process allows the

Assistant Secretary to waive

temporarily test procedures for a

particular basic model when a petitioner

shows that the basic model contains one

or more design characteristics which

prevent testing according to the

prescribed test procedures or when the

prescribed test procedures may evaluate

the basic model in a manner so

unrepresentative of its true energy

consumption as to provide materially

inaccurate comparative data . Waivers

generally remain in effect until final test

procedure amendments become

effective, resolving the problem that is

the subject of the waiver.

The Interim Waiver provisions, added

by the 1986 amendment, allow the

Assistant Secretary to grant an Interim

Waiver when it is determined that the

applicant will experience economic

hardship if the Application for Interim

Waiver is denied, if it appears likely

that Petition for Waiver will be granted,

and/or the Assistant Secretary

determines that it would be desirable for

public policy reasons to grant immediate

relief pending a determination on the

Petition for Waiver. An Interim Waiver

remains in effect for a period of 180 days

or until DOE issues its determination on

the Petition for Waiver, whichever is

sooner, and may be extended for an

additional 180 days, if necessary.

Thermo filed a "Petition for Waiver",

dated May 2. 1991, with supplemental

information presented by letter of June

4,1991, in accordance with section

430.27 of 10 CFR part 430. DOE

published in the Federal Register on July

15, 1991. Thermo's Position and solicited

comments, data and information

respecting the Petition. 56 FR 32205.

Thermo also filed an "Application for

Interim Waiver" under section 430.27(g),

which DOE granted on July 9,1991. 56

FR 32205, July 15,1991.

No comments were received

concerning either the' "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC), concerning the

Thermo Petition. The FTC did not have

any objections to the issuance of the

waiver to Thermo.

Assertions and Determinations

Thermo's Petition seeks a waiver from

the DOE test provisions that require a

1.5-minute time delay between the

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 73
Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 6 / Thursday, January 9, 1992 / Notices

ignition of the burner and the starting of

the circulating air blower. Thermo

requests the allowance to test using a

30-second blower time delay when

testing its GLC and GHC condensing gas

furnaces. Thermo states that since the

30-second delay is indicative of how

these models actually operate and since

such a delay results in an improvement

in efficiency of approximately 1.5

percent, the Petition should be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the

DOE test procedures contain exceptions

which allow testing with blower delay

times of less than the prescribed 1.5-

minute delay. Thermo indicates that it is

unable to take advantage of any of these

exceptions for its GLC and GHC

condensing gas furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Thermo furnaces

are designed to impose a 30-second

blower delay in every instance of start

up, and since the current provisions do

not specifically address this type of

control, DOE agrees that a waiver

should be granted to allow the 30-

second blower time delay when testing

the Thermo GLC and GHC condensing

gas furnaces. Accordingly, with regard

to testing the GLC and GHC condensing

gas furnaces, today's Decision and

Order exempts Thermo from the existing

provisions regarding blower controls

and allows testing with the 30-second

delay.

It is therefore, ordered that:

(1) The "Petition for Waiver" filed by

Thermo Products, Inc. (Case No. F-034)

is hereby granted as set forth in

paragraph (2) below, subject to the

provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5).

(2) Notwithstanding any contrary

provisions of appendix N of 10 CFR part

430, subpart B, Thermo Products, Inc.

shall be permitted to test its GLC and

GHC condensing gas furnaces on the

basis of the test procedure specified in

10 CFR part 430, with modifications set

forth below:

(i) Section 3.0 of appendix N is deleted

and replaced with the following

paragraph:

3.0 Test Procedure. Testing and

measuremennts shall be as specified in

section 9 in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-82 with

the exception of sections 9.2.2, 9.3.1, and

9.3.2, and the inclusion of the following

additional procedures:

(ii) Add a new paragraph 3.10 to

appendix N as follows:

3.10 Gas-and Oil-Fueled Central

Furnaces. The following paragraph is in

lieu of the requirement specified in

section 9.3.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE 103-82.

After equilibrium conditions are

achieved following the cool-down test

and the required measurements

performed, turn on the furnaces and

measure the flue gas temperature, using

the thermocouple grid described above,

at 0.5 and 2.5 minutes after the main

burner(s) comes on. After the burner

start-up, delay the blower start-up by 1.5

minutes (t-), unless: (1) The furnace

employs a single motor to drive the

power burner and the indoor air

circulating blower, in which case the

burner and blower shall be started

together, or (2) the furnace is designed to

operate using an unvarying delay time

that is other than 1.5 minutes, in which

case the fan control shall be permitted

to start the blower, or (3) the delay time

results in the activation of a temperature

safety device which shuts off the burner,

in which case the fan control shall be

permitted to start the blower. In the

latter case, if the fan control is

adjustable, set it to start the blower at

the highest temperature. If the fan

control is permitted to start the blower,

measure time delay, (t-), using a stop

watch. Record the measured

temperatures. During the heat-up test for

oil-fueled furnaces, maintain the draft in

the flue pipe within t0.01 inch of water

column of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modification set forth above, Thermo

Products, Inc. shall comply in all

respects with the test procedures

specified in appendix N of 10 CFR part

430, subpart B.

(3) The Waiver shall remain in effect

from the date of issuance of this Order

until DOE prescribes final test

procedures appropriate to the GLC and

GHC condensing gas furnaces

manufactured by Thermo Products, Inc.

(4) This Waiver is based upon the

presumed validity of statements,

allegations, and documentary materials

submitted by the petitioner. This Waiver

may be revoked or modified at any time

upon a determination that the factual

basis underlying the petition is

incorrect.

(5) Effective January 9, 1992, this

Waiver supersedes the Interim Waiver

granted Thermo Products, Inc. On July 9,

1991. 58 FR 32205, July 15, 1991 (Case No.

F-034).

Issued in Washington, DC, December 30,

1991.

1. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 92-528 Filed 1-8-92; 8:45 aml

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CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 73